Home Base: Will home automation compromise privacy?

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Inman) -- By all accounts, home automation is ready to explode as a number of firms develop ways to hook up home appliances and other devices to the Web.

There are plenty of companies planning to put the hounds on your trail by tracking your Web surfing, TV viewing and online shopping habits.

But Web-enabled homes are likely to leave behind a lot of cyber footprints. And there are plenty of companies planning to put the hounds on your trail by tracking your Web surfing, TV viewing and online shopping habits, as well as what those appliances hooked to the Web are doing at any given time.

And Sunnyvale, Calif.-based TiVo is developing a video-record type of device that compiles a database on what a TV is tuned to. It also tracks viewing habits and learns to tape your favorite shows. While the company has publicly stated a policy that forbids release of individual information, TiVo may sell it an aggregated form, say based on a ZIP code or by region.

Getting to know you Collecting online consumer data is already proving to be a lucrative revenue stream for some Web firms.

GeoCitiesGTCY
a community where users can set up their own home pages, was recently revealed to be covertly selling users' personal information -- like income and occupation -- to marketers. And banner-ad seller DoubleClickDCLK
which recently bought Abacus, a marketing research company, intends to create an online databank of detailed customer information, including spending habits. The company plans to provide the data among its 1,500-member network.

"It used to be, (marketers) didn't know who was watching (TV). "Now, they hope to identify the individuals watching while the ad is running." Marc Rotenberg, Electronic Privacy Information Center

Privacy advocates feel the shiver from Big Bro's hand on their shoulder and say that compiling, aggregating and enhancing viewing data with other information could lead to very deep files on people.

"It used to be, (marketers) didn't know who was watching (TV)," said Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "Now, they hope to identify the individuals watching while the ad is running."

"There are some real privacy risks," Rotenberg said. "Once the data is collected, it has value for government.? That's been then case with travel, cable and toll records."

Getting to know all about you On top of that, many systems for tracking one's cyber trails are "leaky," he said.

Ari Schwartz, of the Center for Democracy and Technology, worries such detailed information culled from home automation systems could lead to rash of government subpoenas because of the treasure trove of information available to third parties -- from your movements around your home to what's inside your refrigerator.

"(Such systems have) potential as a valuable law enforcement tool to track you down -- where you were, what you were doing and other things they can't normally figure out that you're doing inside your house," said Schwartz. "The potential is there for many decisions based on the information those companies collect?. And they might not have to buy it. It might be just passed along."

Other industries, such as insurance, could raise rates based on what your appliances say about you -- such as the incessant ordering of beer and chocolate cheesecake through your Web-connected refrigerator -- according to Schwartz.

Were those sci-fi books right?

With so much info available, such systems could lead to "social control" through intimidation.

Would you buy Nabokov's 'Lolita' or Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' ... if you knew people were watching?

Would you buy Nabokov's "Lolita" or Hitler's "Mein Kampf," or would you peruse an online version of High Times magazine if you knew people were watching?

"You don't ever know what you need to hide and things can come back to haunt you," said Schwartz. "Whether we did good or bad things, it can be used for social control."

And computer hackers could certainly "burglarize" or "vandalize" your house, and create the perception of you being at home by remotely controlling your home's functions.

"There is beginning to be a marketplace for privacy, but people have to speak up," said Schwartz. "Part of it is laziness. It's easier to monitor everyone visiting than it is to build strong protection against the bad guys."

Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) has introduced the Online Privacy Protection Act to a senate committee. The act, as much as a year away from presidential approval, would require Web sites to disclose to consumers what information is gathered from them and how it is disseminated, as well as giving an "opt-out" choice for disclosing personal information.

"There is no turning back" Still, the act seems in part designed to help Web markets by creating a sense of trust.

"Sen. Burns sees the Web's potential as an unusual marketplace of the future. But one of the main ingredients is the lack of privacy some feel," said Ben O'Connell, Burns' deputy press secretary. "Some are scared away due to fears that information about them will be collected and flung far and wide. (Burns believes) your business is your business."

But it seems more unsettling news regarding consumer privacy online appears every day.

The Washington Post reported last week the U.S. Department of Justice is pushing for legislation to allow them to break into homes and disable encryption and security on your computer and dig out your passwords, all in the name of fighting crime.

And a federal appellate court earlier this month struck down the Federal Communications Commission's interpretation of regulations that would require telephone companies to get permission from customers to use their personal information -- such as specific calling patterns -- to market new services to the customers. It could become a precedent related to any Web-related legislation.

However it all shakes down, there is no turning back.

With home automation, "you will always be a part of that (information network). It's always adjusting and monitoring the ways you live to meet your needs," said Mark Schmidt, director of business development and marketing of IBM's Home Director. "Doing it in a non-Orwellian way is the challenge."

Somewhere, Orwell and Huxley may be sharing a drink and a told-you-so laugh.

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